Child Protection. Freda Briggs
communications with the child protection agency that has statutory powers to respond effectively to reports of child abuse
develop, maintain and publicise a data base of services to help parents
ensure that staff (a) respond to disclosures or suspicions of abuse in psychologically helpful ways and (b) support victims
protect children from the risk of abuse by other children as well as employees and visitors
protect staff by establishing clear roles and boundaries and maintaining high professional standards
protect children by teaching and practicing personal safety skills, and informing parents what is taught, why and how they can reinforce these strategies at home
ensure that thorough checks are made on new staff and volunteers before they have contact with children
ensure that young people embarking on home-stays/overseas exchanges are only placed with hosts who have been screened by police, their homes inspected and students made thoroughly cognisant of risks, reportable behaviours and how to locate help if it is needed
Schools and centres need policies because responding to abuse raises emotional issues that are difficult for untrained adults to handle. Policies should increase awareness of child abuse and the likelihood of abuse being identified and stopped in its early stages. Teachers, child carers and school counsellors need to know these policies and be educated to the point where they can recognise and read signs, and feel confident to act on their observations. Unfortunately, some church schools seem to have learned nothing from the cost of past negligence and their procedures still require reports to be made to bureaucrats and senior clergy rather than police or child protection services.
Keep yourself safe
Duty of care is a common-law concept that requires staff to protect children against harm. It is usually seen as a duty to prevent foreseeable risk of injury and includes emotional welfare. Courts define standards for “duty of care” to be very high. Not only does this apply to physical safety and safe equipment; staff are required to maintain professional boundaries with students that protect them from misunderstandings about the relationship.
Professional violations in communications include:
comments about a student’s appearance
sexual innuendo, conversations or jokes, obscene gestures or language
the use of inappropriate “pet” names for students
facilitating access to sexual material
causing or failing to stop the sexual harassment of a student
undressing or wearing provocative clothing in the presence of students
personal contact with a student including SMS, emails, child minding, phone calls (excluding class communications to a sick student, etc.)
Inappropriate behaviour includes
giving sexual information involving self or another staff member to a student
unnecessary and/or inappropriate touching; massaging, kissing, stroking
permitting inappropriate touching by a student
inviting or allowing students to visit your home
visiting children’s homes for personal reasons e.g. babysitting or parties
being alone with a student in a store-room, changing-room, etc.
watching students changing when not in a supervisory role
driving a student when not accompanied by another staff member
providing personal gifts and favours for students
adopting the role of counsellor without the approval of key staff
Secondary school teachers are sometimes targets for inappropriate sexual behaviour and suggestions by students. These situations are dangerous and should be recorded and reported promptly to line-managers. Inappropriate sexual behaviour by children to staff can suggest that the child has been sexually abused. If in doubt, seek advice from the child protection services or police.
It is recognised that some secondary students actively pursue a relationship with staff. To stay safe, never accept special gifts, stop flirtatious gestures and sexual suggestiveness immediately and refuse inappropriate social invitations or correspondence indicating the desire for a special relationship. Keep records and report to the line manager.
In some situations, staff are required to work with a student in a one-to-one situation e.g. counselling, assessing or providing first aid. A Brisbane counsellor was thought to have sexually abused hundreds of boys in a remote, locked room, crimes that cost the Diocese vast sums of money in victim compensation. Some New Zealand schools have counselling rooms within view of the receptionist while others have windows where the counsellor (but not the student) can be seen. Records should be kept of the duration of visits which, even in boarding schools, should always take place in school hours. Counsellors must find a balance between student privacy and student safety.
Appropriate physical contact includes:
first aid and helping a child who falls
assisting with the toileting of children with disabilities who have individual care-plans negotiated with parents
non-intrusive gestures for a child suffering grief and loss
non-intrusive touch such as shaking hands to congratulate
assisting with the toileting of very young children as necessary and in accordance with the centre’s policy
the provision of hugs for distressed young children which should always be with their consent and in a public place
Reporting colleagues
Child sex offenders specifically target services that provide close contact with children making schools, children’s centres, camps, out-of-school activities and sports-training vulnerable. The interest and welfare of children must be the prime consideration when abuse is suspected. That is easy to say but harder to fulfil when a co-worker, a priest or a member of the school council is suspected or accused of sexual abuse or a teacher witnesses physical or, more often, the psychological abuse of a child by a colleague. The school policy should provide clear procedures for handling these situations.
Principals also tend to ignore habitual and damaging psychological abuse by teachers who are so accustomed to putting children down that they do it in the presence of parents and visitors.
When sexual abuse is disclosed, staff are sometimes urged to “stick together” and support the accused to preserve “the good name of the school”, church or centre. A principal’s demand for group solidarity can create a schism in the organisation. Whistleblowers and victims’ families have been ostracised and demonised, sometimes being forced to move to another state. This occurred even when accused teachers were found guilty and students suicided.
An ABC TV documentary (May 16th 2005), showed that teacher, Wayne Tonks, advertised for boys for sex on lavatory walls. He was bashed and suffocated with a plastic bag by two 16-year-old victims who claimed they were drugged, raped and filmed by the teacher and his co-offender. They broke into his unit to steal the video. When, some years later, the deceased teacher’s former colleagues were interviewed by journalist Chris Masters, they wrongly referred to him as “homosexual” (not pederast) and lamented his loss to the teaching profession. One said, “The kids would line up for his lessons and you could see there was a lot of anticipation, excitement, ready to go into his room”.
Another staff member said, “He was an outstanding classroom teacher. He was one of probably the best ten teachers I’ve ever seen in my life.” Another said, “Everyone was heartbroken because he was great at his job; he was a very nice person and he was a very,